What is it about a particular media that makes it successful? Drawing a mini history from printing-press smudges to digital compression artefacts this lecture considers the value of error, chance and adaptation in contemporary media. Biological evolution unfolds through error, noise and mistake. Perhaps if we want to maximise the potential of media, of digital text and compressed file formats, we first need to determine their inherent redundancy. Or, more profoundly, to… ]]> Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:39:59 -0700 http://machinemachine.net/text/ideas/errors-in-things-and-the-friendly-medium http://coventryopenmedia.wordpress.com/schedule/ The concept of openness is often employed as part of a radical critique of the closed-off worlds of what might be called ‘traditional media’. It is variously used to urge for the right to transparency, the ethics of sharing, the value of re-use and the benefits of connecting.

This series of research seminars will explore various aspects of openness. Special attention will be given to the benefits and drawbacks of openness, and to the many possibilities openness offers for the future of media production, use and critique. ]]> Wed, 16 Feb 2011 07:54:36 -0700 http://coventryopenmedia.wordpress.com/schedule/ http://www.genetic-future.com/2008/06/how-much-data-is-human-genome-it.html The question is pretty simple: in the not-too-distant future you and I will have had our entire genomes sequenced (except perhaps those of you in California) - so how much hard drive space will our genomes take up?

Andrew calculates that a genome will take up about two CDs worth of data, but that's only if it's stored in one possible format (a text file storing one copy of each and every DNA letter in your sequence). There are other ways you might want to keep your genome depending on what your purpose is.

… ]]> Tue, 29 Jun 2010 08:33:00 -0700 http://www.genetic-future.com/2008/06/how-much-data-is-human-genome-it.html http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?video?BI_Lecture_20090523_834124_DTapscott The author of Grown Up Digital, Don Tapscott, refutes the belief that the internet is turning today's youth into "the dumbest generation". Tapscott illustrates how the net has changed the way people learn and offers suggestions on how to tap into the expertise that the Net Generation possesses. ]]> Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:27:00 -0700 http://www.tvo.org/TVO/WebObjects/TVO.woa?video?BI_Lecture_20090523_834124_DTapscott http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2009/05/making-presentations-in-the-ted-style.html TED has earned a lot of attention over the years for many reasons, including the nature and quality of its short-form conference presentations. All presenters lucky enough to be asked to speak at TED are given 18-minute slots maximum (some are for even less time such as 3- and 6-minute slots). Some who present at TED are not used to speaking on a large stage, or are at least not used to speaking on their topic with strict time restraints. TED does not make a big deal publicly out of the TED Commandments, but many TED presenters have referenced the… ]]> Tue, 12 May 2009 15:06:00 -0700 http://www.presentationzen.com/presentationzen/2009/05/making-presentations-in-the-ted-style.html